Who We Serve

Testimonials

Kathy

“I have these conversations in my head all the time: Did I fit? Did I say something wrong? I worry, worry, worry. Should I leave my apartment or should I stay isolated? It’s a struggle for me on a daily basis. I worry because of past experiences. If you’re a tulip, don’t live in a rose garden. When I went over to Guild, I felt like I connected. This is my place. You can find your tulip garden.”

Maxine

“I always say this, Guild saved my life. I was homeless for six years on them cold streets. It was hard. I never met a case manager before. I never even heard of one before, and I met one when I was homeless and they took me off the street when I didn’t think… I thought I was going to be out there forever. I thought I was going to perish on the streets. They helped me get custody of my children back. They helped me get a divorce out of an abusive relationship. They helped me to keep housing, and just changed my life. People with mental illness…just try to keep faith. That’s all I can say. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Guild helped me get a psychiatrist. I was diagnosed with PTSD, that was from being out on the streets.”

Mal

“We all have mental health. We all have a brain. Our brains are very complex. These things are normal, they just aren’t as talked about with family, with friends, with social groups, not just in a professional setting, how mental health can impact us physiologically, emotionally and socially.

In 2013 I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and substance use disorder. Early on I think that was the scariest, feeling ‘other’. I think that’s the biggest thing, just knowing that I am not alone in that.”

Tina

“People should know that mental illness is nothing to be scared of. It’s not something I asked for. It just happened. You can thrive. You can be able to open up. There are people who are going to walk beside you and not behind you.”

Jonathan

“It was 21 years ago and my life was kind of a mess. I live with bipolar disorder type 1. When you’re low you’re pretty depressed, when you’re high you’re manic and sometimes that really can impact your decision making and the quality of the decisions you make. Guild was able to come in and help get things to a more stable place. The first priority for me was getting stable, getting on medications, seeing a therapist regularly, maintaining that equilibrium. Focusing on things like my hobbies, things like work. Guild was supportive of my goals and they made sure that they were my goals. It was all about where you want to go today, ‘where do you want to go tomorrow, and how can we help you get there, how can we help you be a better version of you?’”

Jennifer

“It is so important to be aware of what has trickled down the family tree. Rather than running from the stigma, running from the shame, if we put it out in the open and shine a light on it. What it does is lead my children to be able to talk about it more readily and to be able to get help sooner, to be able to reach out. There are people there who want to help. We can pass down stigmas in the same ways we can pass down healthy habits and values and belief systems.”

Paula

“I call it a life illness, cause it stems from life. Something you could be born with or the life you were given. Mental health is something that very many of us deal with in so many different ways. Who wants to say ‘I have an issue with my brain or thoughts?’ It’s hard to admit that you might be different from someone else. We’re not stupid, dumb, ignorant. We’re capable and healthy. Some of us need more help than others do. We have the capabilities, with the right management and the right medication, to get through this world just like everyone else does. With the help that I am getting from Guild and with the support I know I always have, it pushes me to overcome.”

Ari

Ari

“It took a while to get out of the denial stage of having a mental illness. I would refuse medications, forget to take them, or land in the hospital due to increased symptoms. 

 

I had to accept that I needed help to recover. I needed help navigating the mental health system. I was referred to Guild in 2003 while at inpatient treatment at Regions Hospital. Coming to Guild was the first thing that helped me start the recovery process.

 

My Guild team helped me make a recovery plan. This plan helped me to identify stressors, coping skills, building self-esteem, and personal empowerment.  I was able to work on these strategies with my Guild team and build my recovery plan.

 

The most important thing for me in my recovery was that I had to redefine what success meant to me. I’ve learned that success isn’t a particular career, or any one accomplishment. My Guild team stood with me through it all. They were the glue between the cracks, preventing me from falling.

 

Now, success is the ability to make decisions about my own happiness. Now, since graduating from Guild, I’ve moved to northern Minnesota, which I absolutely love. I found a cute apartment, and live in a small community.

 

My dream is for the mental health community to stand together to speak our truth. The time is now to rip away the stigma of mental illness and control our narrative and destiny in diagnosis and recovery. The time is now to say that I have a mental illness and say with confidence that I can overcome this.”

 

– Arianne, Client

 

Eli

Eli

“Guild started with employment services, but very quickly it became so much more. The services started with finding me a job, but then it became about advancing my life so I could get the career I wanted. Not just a job. Julie [my case worker] helped me with anything I needed. She was, and still is, my life coach.

 

Without Julie and Guild, I wouldn’t be standing here today. I wouldn’t be working. I would still be using drugs. I would be in prison, or worse. I don’t hide from my pain and mental illness anymore. I’m not afraid to confront my issues. I have hopes and dreams for the future. I want to go back to school. I want a house up North on a couple of acres of land. I want 2 dogs and maybe a family someday. Because of Guild, my future is bright, and the hamster wheel is no longer part of my life.”

 

– Eli, Client

guild support worker

Corey

“When you initially meet with [individuals who are homeless], there’s hopelessness, you know? There’s no hope there. When you can give someone that little bit of hope and make that difference in their life, that’s huge.”

 

– Corey, Guild Homeless Outreach Worker

 

guild support worker

Nick

“Guild’s Youth ACT team has shown me how much you can grow with the right people pushing you. [They] helped me with my routine. They’re interested in the things I have to say. I believe they care about me, and that gives me hope. I am a survivor and a tough one, too.”

 

– Nick, Client

 

guild support worker

Pam

“I hear parents talk about how [Guild] staff lifted the burden of care from their shoulders, helping their loved ones on a path to attaining a meaningful and more independent quality of life.”

 

– Pam, Volunteer

 

Mick guild support specialist

Mick

“Every person I work with is truly dedicated to the clients and every day I see them doing scores of little things that make a difference in people’s lives.”

 

– Mick, Guild Peer Support Specialist

 

guild client zaheeda

Zaheeda

“I was in an arranged marriage. I divorced my husband because he was abusive and I ended up being homeless. I went to a women’s shelter in Eagan. That’s where I got a referral to Guild. Guild is always good. They give you a lot of tools to use, research on how to get help in the community, [and more]. You have to fight. I push myself. I want to see the light.”

 

– Zaheeda, Guild Client